STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and those who"maligned" the Congress in the 2G scam must apologize to the nation, stated Prof. Gourav Vallabh, Spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) while addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Sunday.
Seven years after he alleged that Congress leader and former MP Sanjay Nirupam had pressurized him in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai tendered an "unconditional apology" to Nirupam. In 2014, Rai, in the course of interviews to the media, named Nirupam as one of the MPs who reportedly pressured him to keep former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name out of his report on the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Prof. Gourav Vallabh said, "The concerted and deep-rooted conspiracy to malign, defame and bring down the UPA-Congress government during UPA-II is getting exposed sequentially. The affidavit dated October 28, 2021 of the then CAG, Vinod Rai, tendering unconditional apology to Sanjay Nirupam on lying about the pressure being put vis a-vis the role of the former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh in 2G spectrum case, has fully exposed the conspiracy. Does it now not appear that the then CAG, Vinod Rai, was the agent provocateur?"
He further said, "The other actors who latched on to this vicious and malicious campaign were General V K Singh, Kiran Bedi, Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and of course the BJP-RSS. The final aim appeared to be to somehow install a BJP government led by Narendra Modi into power."
"India lost its robust growth story, its surging economy, its inclusive growth, its independence of institution, its steadfast commitment to democracy and constitution and its unwavering faith in the independence of institutions, including parliamentary accountability, independent media and a questioning judiciary holding the government accountable. The layers of the orchestrated criminal conspiracy to bring down Congress-UPA government are thus writ large. The nation must know that truth has been vindicated and the deep-rooted conspiracy to destabilize and oust the Manmohan Singh government stands exposed before the people. Let Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vinod Rai and all others tender an unconditional apology to the nation and admit to their sinister role," said the AICC spokesperson.
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